The Daily News FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4. THE PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 215, 4 September 1908, Page 2

The Daily News FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4. THE PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE.

-So Department or State so liruily merits and enjoys the absolute confidence • f New /.oalanders as the Public Trust Office. From a small beginning;, owing its institution to the foresight of Sir Julius Yogcl in 1872, such has been the growing confidence of the people that with implicit trust the Office now handles an enormous turnover of trust moneys. Especially since 1894, when the functions of the Department were enlarged, has the business expanded very rapidly. From last year's balance-sheet much interesting information is to be .

gleaned. At the 31st March last, the funds of the Ollice totalled £2,531,377. an 'increase of nearly half a million sterling for the year. The diversity of the duties the Ollice undertakes is shown by , the various sources from which the funds are drawn. Trust estates account for .-C77S,9'JB; intestate estates, £130,131; mental patients' estates, £05,303; unclaimed lands, £15,011; Native Reserves, £(18,143; Teachers' Superannuation, £02,222; Railway Superannuation. £120,042; Police 'Provident Fund, €30,537; Land Assurance Fund, £20.540; various sinking funds, £!>73,!)4t>; and Public Trust Reserve. £35,458. In addition to the above the Office controls assets of estates exceeding in value £3,000,000, making with invested funds a total of more than five millions sterling. Over 4000 deceased persons have preferred to have their estates administered by the Public Trustee, and the fact that in this direction the work of the office is rapidly increasing is one that will impress itself on the public more and more as time r»ocs on. The care with which the investment of funds is made, and the excellent return accordingly shown in trust estates, are, of course, another factor in increasing the popularity of the Department. The charges, moreover, are very reasonable, and the office is administered solelv in the interest of depositors, and secured on the unassailable guarantee of the State. New Zealand lias ju-t cause to be proud in the possession of so popular an institution, which is now surely being adopted by other countries. ' A Public Trustee is now to be found in some of the Australian States, and recently a law creating one was parsed by the British Parliament. A disposition' to establish a Public

Trust Office has only recently been sliow'n liv the United States and _li.v South Africa, and enquiries witli a viewto adopting the New Zealand systc.n have for some time lieen afoot. The security of trust funds given by the Public Trust Office must lie the key tr the success .wherever tried. The latest addition to the functions of the New Zealand Office is a system of safe deposit, which is already in existence n Dunedin. A feature of t lie business o the large Head Office in Wellington now under construction, will be the ac ceptance 'for safe deposit of valuable articles, and we have no doubt it wil be largely utilised.

AX AMAZING CHANGE IX SOl'Tll , AFRICA A change that is described by leading Home journals as amazing is taking place in South Africa. The Times re marks that no one who has followei; the. course of South African politic; during the last few mouths can fail ti have been impressed by the extraordin ary transformation which has taker place on the question of South Africai ' union. Discussed at intervals for hall a century, since Sir George Grey iirst ''n curred the displeasure of the Homo Go vernment by raising the question ii 1858, South African unity seemed, bare ly a year ago, to be still a purely aca domic subject in which the majority o! practical politicians and business men ii South Africa look little interest. To day, union is not merely a question ol practical politics, but the question whidi is bound to dominate all others till its ' solution lias been attained. In mi small measure this result has been directly due to the efforts of n handful ol untiring missionaries of the gospel ol national union, whose first distinct success was achieved nearly a year age when Lord Selbourne issued a renin rkiblo memorandum largely based upon .loir researches and conclusions. Yet tho-e efforts would scarcely have borne fruit if the forces making i'or South African unity had not been far stronger and the conditions far more favorable than ever before. The fact is that the question of union no longer occupies -the minds of political students only, but has forced itself upon the attention of the far larger body of men whose political views are determined by their immediate business interests, 'it is precisely in a time of acute economic de--pression, such as that which prevails in South Africa at present, that the ordinary business man begins to realise how seriously aribtrary political barriers caii hamper the development and impair the economic stability of what is essentially a single country. The present political divisions of South Africa correspond to no natural divisions of climate or interests. They are purely historical, and, in a sense, accidental. The most serious division of all fortunately exists no longer. There could be no thought of unity till there was a definite answer to the question under which Jlag and under which political system unity was to be achieved. That issue was decided tt Vcrconigijig just six years ago. But though a single Hag now tlics over South Africa, it flies over separate administrations, each bound to tight for its own interests and to subordinate the needs of South African development to the immediate exigencies of its Customs or railway revenue. Ever since the peace a Customs ami railway war between the South African colonies has been imminent. It was to deal with thee questions of Customs and railways that the j Inter-Colonial Conference which sat at Pretoria recently was ostensibly convened. But from the first it was'felt that the problems confronting the delegates were really insoluble except on the basis of .South African unity. On May 9th the delegates at Pretoria, unanimously passed a resolution adopting the principle of closer union, and undertook to recommend to their respective Govern, ments the amiointment of a National Convention to frame a draft Constitution for a united South Africa. Subsequent attempts to improve the Customs and railway situation cm the existing basis proved futile, and on .May 30th the Conference, which had meanwhile adjourned to Capetown, decided to prolong the status quo for another year. Accordingly it maybe taken for granted that in October next, after the sessions of the local Legislatures, (he National Convention will meet, probably at Durban.

OX THE FOURTH PAGE. Commercial. District News. Bank Advances. Dread from Air. It I'avs to Smile. Historic Memories. Eight Moms Yelling. WHV Ts SANDER & SONS' EUCALYPTI EXTRACT superior to any other Eucalyptus protfuct? Uecause it ia the result of full experience and of a special ami careful process of ini'iuifacure. II is always safe, reliable, ami effective, and the dangers attending the use of tfrs irresponsible preparation: which are now palmed off js "Extracts" are avoided. A death was recently retorted from the external use of oiie of tliCbc concoctions, and in an nelinn a' law a sworn wilness testified that li<juffered the most cruel irritation from the application to an u'v.jr of a pro.lir' I which was sold is "just as good as SAN- I DER'S EUCALYPTI EXTRACT." There fore, iieware of such deception, [nsin! upon the preparation which was prove.! by nxperts at the Supreme Court <>l Victoria, n'nv by numerjus nntliorif.icduring the past 35 years, to he a preparation of penuir.e merit, viz., THE GENUINE SANDER AND SONS' PUR!-' VOLATILE EUCAIA'PrT EXTRACT.ChemJsts and Stores.—Advt.

YOU CAN GET IT CKiWm A'' •Km «BD TOST.

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

In to-morrow's supplement will be commenced a short series of interesting articles on "The Maori in Polynesia:" by James J/.etl, the well-known' writer on Maori subjects. "In a Mad Moment" is the title of another of the. ''human interest'' stories, while another romance of unexpected fortunes is narrated. "The Storyteller" and Sporting News appear as usual, and other features include the following' articles:—''Curious Breach of Promise Case,' ' "Brigands Who Steal Countries," "Humor in Newspapers," "Wonders of the Oxford University Press," ete. The quarterly meeting.of the Egmont Licensing Committee will be held :.t Waitara to-day. Subtle! Advertisement in a Wellington Chinese shop—"New laid hen eggs, Is. id. dozen; fresh eggs, Is. -id. dozen.''

The election of a lieutenant in the Taranaki Rilles to succeed Lieutenant Humphries will be held on Tuesday evening. The erectiun of the Criterion Motor Garage in Liardi't-streel for -Mr. A. Beestou is well in hand, the extension wall of brick having reached a height of several feet.

The re-hearing of the ease of the truant inspector v. B. Enroth for breach < of the compulsory clauses of the School ' Attendance Act came before Mr. it. ' Cock, J. P. yesterday morning. Defend- ' ant pleaded guilty, and a line of 2/- J without costs was inilicted. ' Search-parties were out yesterday in quest of Mr. J. West, of Oakura, the well-known carrier. He was last seen, on Wednesday about a quarter to 5 o'clock, when be was strolling along the esplanade near the band rotunda. At a late hour last night .there was no news of the missing man. Visitors to the Taieri arc struck with the sight of a number of wind-mill pumps which are working in the vicin- ; ity of Henley. There are seven of these pumps lifting into the river the water from the areas still Hooded. Each pump shifts 2000 gallons a minute, but in spite of this the water is recediug slowly. Nocturnal thieving is going on in the suburbs. The thieves arc many, if their tastes arc anything to judge from. Garden tools, lirewood, timber, eggs, a sitting hen, and horsefeed have disappeared from several places during the hours of darkness, and although the victims claim to have a pretty good idea of the identity of the thief in their particular locality, there is no actual proof, and the "lifting" fraternity is still undisturbed. Drivers of vehicles, and cyclists, fondly hoped that when, the railway devia- . tion iwas opened and the rails through the centre of the town were no longer required, the level crossings would immediately have been done away with. ' This would have made Devon-street a ' more comfortable track, for the, bump, bump, over the rails would have been ", eliminated. It is suggested that the Department is waiting for the rails to ~ rust away, for in the roadway still th.'y remain.

Owing to several reasons, it is estimated that there are at present about one hundred men out of work at Waikl, and, the matter having been referred to at a meeting of the Borough Council, it was decided that temporary work be found by the engineer on co-operative lines for about twenty of the most deserving cases. A considerable number of the men idle are said to have come from Karangalmke, but a number of the applicants for work have come from Souili Africa, where labor matters are reported to be in a very low state. A local poultry-fancier recently ordered a sitting uf eggs from one of Australia's foremost breeders, and, with a view of saving the eggs being bumped about too much in mailbags, arranged to have them sent to a friend in Auckland, who mas to have sent them on by steamer under special conditions. Xotbe of the despatch of the eggs came to hand, but weeks went by and there were no eggs. Eventually it was found that the parcel was lying at a forwarding depot in Auckland. They arc now probably useless for hatching purposes. ••Sometimes," remarked Dr. Macdonald. referring at Dunedin to the English of spectators nt a football match—■■some times the comments you hear are pointed and pungent, but it is usually the small boy who makes them. On one occasion, when a man ran instead of passing, a small boy remarked, 'Gar'n, if he'd 'ad any common he'd a* known he hadn't a Buckley's!' "That boy," commented the doctor, "certainly conveyed his meaning in a terse and'vigorous way. He hadn't quite the elegance of Queen Elizabeth, but he had all her power."—Otago Daily Times.

"Previous to adopting the rugging system in the winter months ] tried various plans, as giving the cows hot feed night and morning and putting up wind breaks, but the cost of production was not reduced, nor was the yield increased. When.l covered my first cow I was so surprised at the result that I had to go over the tests again and again to make sure of the result" (suvs a writer in the Melbourne Leader).* Jn the further tests, in .which a considerable expenditure was made in foods for the cows, the books of the farmer showed that whereas the cost of his butter in winter without rugs amounted to lid pe r lb, with rugs he had reduced it to 0d per Hi. The annual "social" given by the sisters of the Court Pride of New Plymouth, A.0.F., was .held last night in the Foresters' Hall. The function, was well attended, yet the floor was not uncomfortably crowded for dancing. The committee (Misses Pearce, Tunbridge, Bleasdale, Coleman, and Forester) had all the arrangements quite up to the mark, and a very pleasant evening resulted. Excellent dance music was played by Miss Loveridge, and Messrs. Mathcson and Moon were M.C.'s. Supper, contributed by the ladies, was quite a feature. The pleasure of the. evening was enhanced by the vocal items rendered by Miss Foley and Messrs. Elder ■and Moon. Extras were plaved by Misses Pote and Pearce and. Mr. Cave. When the Carrington road district

ratepayers saddled themselves with a loan of £2700 recently for road formation, widening, and improvement, it was stipulated that the £2OO required- for forming and grading the Mill road should not be raised unless the rarepayers on the road would contribute £IOO towards the cost, making available £3OO in all. During u ic rccC]l t w t weather a steep unmetnlled pinch near the. upper end of the road was practically impassable. Tt is now stated that the necessary ratepayers' guarantee is forthcoming, and that the road will shortly be made available for wheel traffic. A decent road from the Hospital corner to Vogeltown would be exceedingly useful, especially to tradesmen on their rounds.

A good story is hoing t „l,l „f ,> ,„•„. lament society woman of Lower Hull, who is very quiet in her dress. „„,[ i)v only tho appointment of her eciuippam' betrays the fact Unit she is wealthy. One ilny she stopped her carriage ou'tliile the eslahlishineiit of a fashionable milliner in Wellington, entered, and adlresseil the proprietress: *1 see by a lofice in your window that von want an ipprcutice." The milliner eyed her eon.cinptuously from the crown of her nodes! Imniiel to the tin of her common ieiise shoe. "You would not do at all,'' die said. "1 want a lady-like person .vho can wait on customers.'' '•[ wished o place one of my maids with someone rem whom she could learn millinery vliile I am abroad," said the visitor pnetly, "hut 1 am afraid you would not lo.'- As the footman opened the cariagc door for his mistress, the horrortricken milliner too late found her mlsake.

Horses that eat gates and rail fences are something of a rara avis, but there are c|intc a number in U„> s „„ w country in Central Olngo. When at Hawkdun Station, an Otago Daily Times reporter was shown the 'remains of wooden (dices where only the ends of the rails were left; the remainder had been gradually gnawed away by the station burses. A Gimnicrburn' man owns half-a-dozen horses which were in I a distant paddock when the snow fell. W hen. a fortnight liter, he visited them he found that about all that was left id the large gate lending into their paddock was the ironwork; the horses had eaten the rest. It seems that the animals develop this peculiar habit when) in a country where snow has lain long on the ground, and thee are more on less hungry. The manager of Hawkdun slated that the horses on his station which ate his liliiegum rails had as much food as they could cat, yet, they turned away from their ninngers and'gnawed the fences and gates.

'"' Melbourne" reports record [ crowds of shoppers for their special fifteen days' sale of boots and shoes, which commenced on the 20th August. A special feature of the sale is that all their well-known lines of men's highgrade glace kid, box calf, and bovine kid balmorals, which were formerly priced at ISs lid, Ms fid, up to 22s fid, have been reduced to the one sale price, namely. His 9d. These lines are selling fast.—Advt.

GIGANTIC CONSPIRACY. 'Tis a gigantic conspiracy of Coughs and Colds against you. Foil it with Dr. Sheldon's New Discovery for Coughs, Colds and Consumption.' Price la, 6d. and 3s. Obtainable everywhere.